The calm before the storm part 1

Chapter 68

At the same time that night, in a corner of the street near the wall going out to the Daemon forest three figures can be seen facing each other. It was Shin Jiao, Qian Li and a woman wearing a white veil on her face. The eyes of the woman are looking at Shin Jiao with earnest longing and tears seem to be visible in the corner.

"Qin Lou… It's been a long time." Shin Jiao said as he looks at the woman with a smile.

"Master you know her?" Qian Li looks at Shin Jiao with a tinge of doubt, awe, and confusion.

She didn't expect that her master would really be acquainted with the rumored genius from the alchemy school from the town of Dis. But of course, this also boosted her confidence as a follower of such a man.

"Why? Why did you not show yourself to me… to us? Are we not your… friends?" Qin Lou said with a sobbing voice.

When Shin Jiao saw that Qin Lou started to cry, he almost could not hold himself as he takes a step forward. But then all of a sudden, a powerful aura came bursting forth from behind Qin Lou. Then from afar, two figures suddenly appear in a blink of an eye and stood beside her.

"How dare a mere mortal act this way in front of a cultivator." One of the men said as he looks at Shin Jiao in anger as they saw that he is about to approach Qin Lou.

Shin Jiao is in stealth at that time when they were escaping and didn't activate his aura. So right now, both Qian Li and Shin Jiao are considered as mortals by the two powerful cultivators. Without a word, the other man lifted his hand and delivers a slap towards Shin Jiao. If he is just a mere mortal he would be turned to ashes immediately with this force, not to mention Qian Li who is now having a pale face as she looks at the two in horror.

Shin Jiao shook his head and immediately grabs Qian Li and sends her back a couple of meters away, then in a blink came back delivering a powerful punch towards that palm strike.

Boom!!!

A loud explosion made the two World nascent realm cultivator dumbfounded as they would have never expected that a mere mortal can resist that palm strike. Although it's just a simple palm strike it still came from a World nascent cultivator, and the young mortal delivers an equally simple punch to counter it. This means only one thing, the young man has the strength equal to them.

This is unacceptable for the two proud cultivators as they are already considered as a powerhouse of the Xi Empire. If not for the empire's sake they would not spend their time guarding a promising junior like Qin Lou. But now they found something interesting and somewhat annoying person, and it seems that they have underestimated that person. In their minds, Shin Jiao might actually be a world nascent cultivator like themselves and is using some technique just to hide his cultivation aura.

As the dust died down, the only thing that they saw is a wide crater near the wall. Shin Jiao and Qian Li are already gone not even any sign of them can be seen. Scanning with their spiritual sense, they found no trace of them at all. On the ground, Qin Lou found a small gray thing which seems to fit one's ear. Since she is a bit familiar with Shin Jiao's crafting techniques, she didn't hesitate to put it in her ears. Upon seeing this, the two world nascent expert reacted at the same time.

"No, you can't use that thing!"

But Qin Lou raised her hand and stopped them.

"Seniors you attacked him without knowing who he is. He is the one who helped me to escape from the forest. I became an ungrateful person because I didn't stop you from trying to hurt him. This is what he left for me, and I trust that he would not harm me." Qin Lou said as sadness can be clearly seen on her face.

"I… humph…" the world nascent cultivator who attacked wanted to say something but decided to just turn around.

He is a powerful cultivator and would not stump too low as to barter with a junior, so he just left.

Qin Lou didn't mind the attitude of the protector as she also knows their purpose. And since Shin Jiao was not hurt and was able to escape she's just glad. Her focus then turned to the small device on her ear and then she suddenly heard a voice.

"Qin Lou, I'm glad that you're okay. Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Right now, I still can't see you as you are already protected by the Emperor. But when I have enough power, I promise to see you and no power can stop me from that. For now, you have to cultivate and be strong okay?" Shin Jiao's voice on the other line was heard.

"Wait! Where are you?" Qin Lou asked with a little confusion, she was thinking that the thing in her ears is a recording, but she can hear a faint sound of gushing air which means that the person is running really fast or flying.

"Oh me? I'm running! Hehe…" You really are a smart girl, Shin Jiao said as he knows that Qin Lou had figure out that the one on her ear is a communication device.

"Shin, I can talk to you with this right?" Qin Lou excitedly asked.

"Umm… yes, but this is an open and limited frequency, which means that the range is limited and what you are saying can be heard by others." Shin Jiao explained.

"I don't care. As long as I can talk to you with this I'm fine with it." Qin Lou said as a smile crept on her face.

"Okay, well I need to go now. I'm almost out of your range. Till next time then, bye!"

"Huh? Shin… Shin…" Qin Lou felt confused and a little disappointed as Shin Jiao's voice came to an end.

But then she held the device in her hand as if the most important thing in the world and a tranquil feeling overcame her. She then happily turns around and left the place along with the World nascent cultivator who is now full of awe at the thing Qin Lou is holding.

"That is a new artifact… How can a mere mortal… Wait a minute… That mortal is a craftsman." The World nascent cultivator suddenly had a realization.

But since it is not that clear yet, he would just do a thorough investigation of the matter. If what he is thinking is true, then that mortal is the one that the emperor is looking for.

Meanwhile…

As Shin Jiao continuously running, he ignored or maybe forgotten that he is carrying Qian Li on his arms. Her face is now like a tomato, as she didn't know what to do. So without a choice, she just leans her head on his chest and comfortably held on to his neck.

Shin Jiao noticed for a while now that someone has been following after them. He actually saw this familiar aura when they were talking to the two world nascent cultivator. That person is actually using an aura stealth technique, the reason why the two world nascent didn't notice or bother to notice. But since that person persisted in following them he decided to have a confrontation in a place far from the town.

So he waited until they entered the forest when he suddenly turns around.

"Master, what is it? Is there something wrong?" Qian Li asked as she immediately put on her goggles and turn on her exoskeleton.

In the town, she can't use her goggles and exoskeleton so as to not attract any untoward attention to them. But this time since they are in the forest she can freely show her full capability so that she would be of great help to Shin Jiao.

Not long later Qian Li saw a figure that stunned her.

…

Meanwhile, deep inside the forest...

As the memory came to, Phoenix's face turns red in embarrassment, she could not believe that she had those things to a person she just barely met. Although they have gone to some life-threatening circumstances it would not warrant the man to fall in love with her, and her feelings too seem to be complicated.

It is common in the cultivation land to have a fiancée that one has never meet before and would just meet them 2 to 3 times before marriage. So in Phoenix's case, her mentality is somewhat coherent with the fact that she saved the man and the man saved her. This mutual understanding made each of them develop a budding feeling.

"Oh you're awake!" a voice of a man suddenly awoke her from her stupor.

"How are you feeling?" The handsome man slowly enters holding a bowl of soup.

The man was Xi Jung, who enters and then put the soup on a stone table and sat at the edge of the bed. He stretched forth his hand to touch Phoenix's forehead but the later reacted fast enough to evade his hand. She just stares at him with confused eyes while holding the blanket to cover her naked body.

"Why are you doing this?" Phoenix said with indifference and cold tone in her voice.

Xi Jung looks at her in confusion and sighs, he somewhat understands what she is feeling and if he will not explain himself to her, she would ultimately hold some prejudice towards him. She would think that he is using her for something and because of that would lose the chance to have her as his woman.

"I… I told you last night. I… I think I have developed some feelings for you." he said as he scratched the back of his head feeling a little shy and silly.

"I don't believe you… You said that I save you before? But I can't remember when did that happen." Phoenix said while her attitude is now showing indifference and cold, unlike the passionate woman that she was last night.

"I guess it's just my thoughts then… Well, you see. It was the time when that Golden Back Spiky wild boar appears in the forest and my whole team of cultivators was annihilated. That was the first time I saw you. Because of your intervention, my life was spared. Then after that, we team up and…" He explained as he summarizes the story on how his feelings grew from there.

"The truth is from the first time I saw you, I truly felt that you are a magnificent woman. As a cultivator, I would work hard to be a worthy partner for you. Hopefully, you would… accept me… as… as your Dao companion." Xi Jung said with a little bit of hesitation as he didn't know what her reaction would be.

Upon hearing this Phoenix was shaken, she would not have expected for the man to ask her, a mere mortal, to be a Dao companion of a cultivator.

"I think you hurt your head pretty bad out there. You should meditate to fix that; it would not be a good thing for your clan to find out that one of their juniors has gone crazy." Phoenix said with a sneer.

She would not believe that a cultivator would fall in love with a mere mortal, especially when that cultivator has high cultivation like the man in front of her. When they were fighting against the Golden Back Spiky Wild boar, she has already known that his cultivation level is that in gold core realm middle stages. A genius like himself would not stoop so low as to love a mortal like her.

"We've just done what we could to save each other. Hopefully, you will not approach me after we parted ways." Phoenix said as she turns her back towards him.

Right now Xi Jung felt hurt and could not believe that she would feel indifference towards him. After the things that they did together, he could not forget that passionate night and it keeps on swirling in his mind. Then he suddenly feels that if he gives up now, he would not be able to get her again.

Because their clan has a unique cultivation technique which is solely practiced by their clan and that unknown to many cultivators, many of the Jung clan's ancestors have successfully ascended to the higher planes. This cultivation technique is called 'the singular Dao heart', because of their singular Dao heart technique, it is easy for them to ascend to the deity realms. They have already shared this teaching to others but none would accept it. None would believe that having the singular Dao heart can give a cultivator an easy way of ascension. Although it's not the only way to ascend however it is the fastest and sure way for ascension. But men have their own designs, so the Jung clan decided to keep this knowledge within their clan.

Right now Xi Jung's singular Dao heart belongs to Phoenix, but she didn't know this as her mindset is still affected by the norms of the cultivation land that a man can have a couple of wives and many concubines which she herself is unable to accept.

"Sigh… Alright… here are your clothes. If you need anything, just call me okay?" Xi Jung said with a dejected expression.

He slowly put Phoenix's clothes on the bedside as they were already cleaned. Phoenix bits her lips as a complicated feeling is starting to rise within her mind. But she didn't have time to think about it, right now the only thing in her mind is to get out of this place and return to the small community she called home.

After Xi Jung went out of the cave, Phoenix immediately got up from the bed and quickly put on her military-like camouflage clothes. Though her body still ached a little however because of the effect of the green pill, she can manage. She simply tied her hair in a bun and checked her equipment.

That day the two resume their travel in silence, but she can clearly notice that something is different. Their pace is clearly slow and Xi Jung would go his way to eliminate any beast. Then whenever she would feel a little fatigue he would immediately stop and they would take a rest. His attentiveness is a little troubling for her as she is an independent woman, although both have already shared some time together, she is still a little hesitant in opening her heart to him.

But his every warm response is effective in thawing her seemingly frozen heart facade.